Selfridges secures permission for private members' club: is this the future for luxury retail?

Selfridges has gained planning permission this week to add a private members' club to its Oxford Street flagship store, which is promising to offer an "exclusive new shopping and social destination for its most valued customers and members".

Further details of what the club will look like will become clearer in the coming months but the securing of the planning approval, rubber-stamped by Westminster City Council on Tuesday, heralds a new era in luxury retail and VIP customer loyalty programmes.

The new club, to be named 40 Duke, will form part of the SWOD building, which was constructed in the 1930s as an extension to the north-east of main building that faces Oxford Street. The SWOD building is named after the Somerset, Wigmore, Orchard and Duke streets surrounding it. Permission has been granted for it to be used as a private members' club or retail space for the next 50 years.

Housed in a space currently used by staff, it will offer an internal bar and lounge, a private dining room, as well as an external terrace dining area with retractable roof for 144 people in total. However Westminster City Council is expected to demand that noise is kept to a minimum, particularly as opening house are from 8am to 12.30am Sunday to Thursday and until 1.30am on Friday and Saturday.

Door staff will escort customers out of the building after closing and the club will be run on an 'invitation-only' basis. It will be accessible via Duke Street or via the store during opening hours.

The news has been revealed shortly after reports circulated that Frasers Group was looking to revive the Matches brand a private members club. Frasers acquired, beloved but struggling Matches, in 2023 before placing it into administration shortly afterwards sending fans and customers into mourning. The business ceased trading but Frasers bought back the brand. Reports subsequently emerged that it was planning to revive it as an exclusive members' club, dubbed 'the Soho House of retail'.

Carlos Place in Mayfair, home of the former Matches townhouse experience

According to an internal pitch deck seen by The Times newspaper, the 'new' Matches will offer curated member services such as personalised shopping, early access to limited-edition pieces, luxury gifts and invitation-only events hosted in London. Membership will reportedly be curated by a committee of founder members and 'global tastemakers', in a format reminiscent of high-profile private clubs like Soho House and The Arts Club.

Plans are understood to include reopening Matches’ former London flagship location at Carlos Place in Mayfair, though this detail could be subject to change. Initially opened by Matches' original founders Tom and Ruth Chapman in 2018, the Carlos Place townhouse served as a curated retail store, personal shopping suite and events space, where exclusive activations took place for members of the highest echelons of its loyalty scheme. It was a trailblazing move at the time and appears to be the blueprint for Frasers' new concept, which has been slated to open as soon as the end of this year.

The Red Room at Printemps New York (Gieves Anderson for Printemps New York)

Over in New York, upscale Parisian department store Printemps has opened an outpost with a difference in SoHo. While it's not operating a private members' club model, the store is as much a place for NYC's beau monde to be seen and to socialise as it is to shop. A digital tool on its website offers guidance on how to plan your visit, based on whether you have an hour or a full day to spare. This is designed to be a place to linger.

The retail floor is less department store and more art gallery. In fact the Red Room allows shoppers to sip champagne while they browse selected fashion, gifts and objets d'art. There are three further 'culinary experiences' in which to linger along with a spa, personal shopping, and repairs and alterations atelier.

All of these new initiatives are designed to foster closer relationships with big spending clients and reward them for the time spent with the retailer. Indeed Selfridges' new 'Unlocked' loyalty scheme does just that. Customers are not only given rewards for how much money they spend in store but how much time they spend there, taking in the various and ever-changing experiences on offer. Customers are given a digital 'key' to use when shopping online and visiting the store, inspired by Selfridges founder Harry Gordon Selfridges handing out physical 'keys' to the store's first ever customers in 1909 to make them feel as though they would always feel 'at home' there.

The new Selfridges Unlocked loyalty scheme

Of course, this move to membership and elevated experience is also no surprise, given that luxury fashion spend has gone off the boil. The global superbrands cooked their goose, even with the most affluent of customers, by hiking prices season upon season and doing little to add any value to their products (if anything quality took a downturn). Customers turned to other forms of consumption instead, most notably in luxury experiences and hospitality. It makes sense therefore that luxury retailers should offer those experiences too, and if someone buys a handbag on their way up to the members' club then so much the better. If they don't, then at least they are still spending time and money with you, rather than anywhere else.

All that being said, the luxury brands have had a rude awakening and have acted on it. The recent reshuffle of designer talent at the head of our most significant houses (Jonathan Anderson is set to reveal his first menswear collection for Dior today, 27 June 2025) should usher in a new era of creativity and excitement for fashion. This September is being dubbed 'September to Remember' in fashion as Matthieu Blazy presents his first Chanel collection, Jonathan Anderson shows his first womenswear collection for Dior and Michael Rider debuts the new Celine, among many other big reveals.

Those retailers, who can offer the exclusivity and experience to high end consumers coupled with the new and exciting product we are expecting, will surely be on to a winner.